Please Read Before Editing

From Create Your Own Story

This is a story of many possibilities - and yes, perspectives. Despite its gloomy opening, I intend for this to be a multi-genre story that goes in a myriad amount of direction. Due to my history of abandoned stories, however, I now take caution in creating too many choices for each page, so I stick with two choices per page for now. Thus, should you choose to help to edit (which will be very, very much appreciated and encouraged), then there are a few ground rules to follow, if you please:

General Rules

• Stick to two choices for every page you create unless you intend to expand upon every single choice you create. That means I would prefer not to have multiple red links all over this story that lead to blank pages. So please, for simplicity sake, just stick to two for now.

• Superficial choices are discouraged. That means no "joke choices" that lead to a nonsensical one-liner ending... unless, of course, you make it funny enough. But even so, I would prefer if you ask for permission first before creating such choices.

• Explore possibilities. Just because the first page starts with an existential crisis doesn't mean it has to be so down the line. You are free to take the story in another direction/genre. I don't mind not asking permission for your own creative direction for the most part, since I am interested in seeing what people could do with my story, but please edit within reason and don't make it one of the many smutty stories already existing on this site. This is not that kind of story.

• As an extension of the previous rule, keep things unexpected for the readers. This and the previous rule, however, are more like guidelines I encourage. I would prefer to see the choices lead to some twist that would surprise and shock people. Bonus points if you cleverly deconstruct/subvert a trope in this manner (think "Cabin in the Woods" and other satire movies that reinvent tired cliches). If you don't have a clue what I'm going on about, just ignore this rule.

• Writing quality is loose and lenient. I don't mind the occasional bad grammar and spelling since I don't exactly have the best writing myself, but again, within reason. At least write something that's readable and doesn't put people off. A simple narrative that's devoid of description of the setting, or an exposition scene that's more "tell" than "show", such writing flaws are definitely acceptable, however. I don't expect Shakespearean material here.

Story Direction

While I indicate that you are free to take the story in any direction, there is still a specific direction I'm interested in, one that you are free to expand upon should you be also interested. Of course, this direction deals with existential crisis and the meaninglessness of our daily lives... only to turn on itself and deconstructs such existential stories later on. This means that while the story might start like your average teenage angst fic about depression and nihilism right now, it will become critical of such edgy stories later on and lecture on how such "existential crisis" is just an excuse to be lazy and afraid of life. All just a matter of, yes, perspective. The protagonist will discover that there is more meaning in life beyond what he could see, that life only seems meaningless because he doesn't bother to seek out meaning.

Of course, that's just one direction of the story. In the protagonist's journey, he will find himself in all sorts of setting, ranging from the mundane like high school to something fantastical like a portal to another dimension to something truly bizarre like being transformed into a monster (revealing the ugliness inside him). Like I said, it's a multi-genre story, and the perspectives are varied, so feel free to let loose your creativity and imagination. What will our hero discover in his journey through life? Will he suffer many heartbreaks and eventually commit a crime? Or will he reach enlightenment and become a savior for mankind? The choice is yours in this tale with endless possibilities. Unleash your imagination!

A few final points...

1. Crossovers with copyright fictional characters (Batman, Bugs Bunny, etc.) are acceptable, but it must make sense (like a portal to another dimension suddenly opens, or the protagonist's drawn pictures come alive, etc.). I even encourage it, since I'm a big fan of crossovers. But for now, I don't want things to go too crazy right now because that's how stories wind up dead. Which brings me to my second point...

2. Until the story has a solid foothold with many choices written and expanded upon, I'm not allowing the editing of this story to the public. This is also to prevent people from editing the story into some vampire sex story or something ridiculous like that. Once the story gains momentum and will give people a general impression of how it should flow, then I will open it for public.

3. Despite what I said about the smuttiness, there will be some "mature" scenes in the story. I'm even thinking about shifting this story to the "Adult Stories" section. This is because I'm dealing with some dark personal stuff in my life right now, and so such mature themes tend to get enveloped into the writing sometimes. Please don't pay too much heed to these scenes, however, since their appearance will be seldom and non-pornographic (more or less). They exist for the sake of exploring addiction issues rather than for any superficial gratification of sorts. It is an entirely optional side-plot that you could ignore if you're not comfortable with it.

And that's it! That's more or less the gist of it. Have fun editing, and feel free to drop a line in the discussion page of this article should you have any questions.